Chicago Hotel Workers Vote 85% To Authorize Largest Strikes in City’s History

Chicago Hotel Workers Vote 85% To Authorize Largest Strikes in City’s History

 

Chicago: Following negotiations with no agreement, Local 1 hospitality members, including room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers, and food service workers, have voted 85% to authorize strikes in the first wave of voting.

 

According to the results of a 2025 UNITE HERE Local 1 survey, 32% lacked money to cover rent or their mortgage in the last 12 months. Two thirds had their hours cut during the slow period. Around 29% lacked money to cover utility bills. And while 1 in 4 workers had to take out a payday loan or other short-term loan, Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton returned $22.3 billion to their shareholders over the last 3 years.

 

“It’s hard. Every day I push my body past the limit. I’m tired of having to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to provide food for my family.  That is why I voted yes. The company doesn’t believe we deserve fair wages. They aren’t valuing our work.” says Danetta McPhan, a steward at the Hyatt McCormick  “I’m ready to go out and strike. I’ve given this company many years of my life. I work too hard to live like this.”

 

“I voted yes to strike because I’ve had enough. They’re putting us on the schedule 6 consecutive days without even asking us. They demand and demand, always rushing us in the rooms, without acknowledging that we are human beings. We only have two hands and two feet. I’m coming out of here extremely exhausted. And I have to come and work, because I need money to feed my four children.” speaks Cassandra Pope, a room attendant at the Palmer House Hilton.

 

Patricia Davila Garcia, room attendant from Westin River North says “I’m ready to strike. These companies make all the profit and don’t give us back our share. Living is becoming so expensive in Chicago. I’m paying almost double in bills, my rent went up, and don’t even get me started on food prices. What we get right now is not enough! I’m working too hard to be struggling back at home.”

 

“Tourism in Chicago is booming, all while inflation is increasing, and it’s affecting our hotel workers across the industry. They feel the weight anytime they go to the supermarket to buy food, or when they come home from work and are too tired to spend time with their family. Workers are ready to strike because they work too hard to live like this.” said Karen Kent, President of UNITE HERE Local 1.

 

Hotel workers are seeking to win better wages to keep up with runaway inflation, healthcare benefits, pension, protection for civil rights, and safer workloads. Contracts expired August 31, and employers like Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott have failed to agree to anything close to the wages workers say they need to survive.

 

UNITE HERE Local 1 could call for strikes at any given moment in any of the hotels.  Collectively the hotels have more than 7,000 workers, making these the largest hotel worker strikes in the city’s history. The last major hotel worker strikes in Chicago were at 26 hotels simultaneously. As a result of those strikes, workers won year-round health coverage for themselves and their families.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

CRYSTAL CROCKET AND BRENDA SHERIFF